


Beneath the Surface

by The_Mouse_of_Anon



Category: Teen Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Co-Written, Eddie's probably going to be the only known case of 'death from blushing', La'gaan might be enjoying this too much, Look at these two adorable saps, M/M, co-written by onyxdragonx, pre-Devilfish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 12:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11290974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mouse_of_Anon/pseuds/The_Mouse_of_Anon
Summary: The two of them were alone in the gym on base. Normally La'gaan preferred to work out alone, but since he had accepted Eddie's friendship it became normal for Eddie to take any chance he could get to be in La'gaan's company. Only this time their conversation turned a little more awkward than usual.





	Beneath the Surface

**Author's Note:**

> This is a pre-Devilfish fic that the fantastic onyxdragonx (on tumblr) and I co-wrote. It’s adorable, it’s awkward, and it’s packed to the gills with beginning Devilfish feels. (No I’m not sorry about that pun. lol) Also, unlike my other Devilfish fics this one isn't directly connected to the others. Consider this a side-reality if you will. There plenty of similarities, but there are also subtle differences. So while this one hints at things that take place in the other fics, some things here have happened a little differently.
> 
> We both hope that you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it. n.n

“Devilfish, you don’t have to impress me,” La’gaan said, holding the weight one-handed which Eddie was attempting to lift above himself. The two of them were alone in the gym on base, something that had become a habit of late. La’gaan usually preferred to work out alone without having anyone to distract him from his thoughts (or force him to think when he didn’t care to), but after La’gaan had finally accepted Eddie’s friendship it had become normal for the fire-wielder to take any chance he could get to be in La’gaan’s company. With their shared workout sessions one thing had become blatantly obvious to the atlantean: Eddie had a bad habit of pushing himself too far.

Eddie gave an annoyed huff and stubbornly refused to relax his arms so that La’gaan could take the weight he was struggling with. “I didn’t get where I am by not pushing myself,” he grumbled.

La’gaan chuckled lightly and replied, “And you won’t get anywhere with weights you can’t lift.”

For a moment or two it looked like he wasn’t going to admit defeat (never mind the fact that it was painfully obvious that he was barely able to handle the weight), and then Eddie gave a slightly strained grunt as he caved. “Fine. Take this thing off my hands before I drop it on myself.” La’gaan easily lifted the weight out of Eddie’s grasp with one hand and put it back in the rack, smirking endearingly as Eddie sat up on the weight-bench to watch. Eddie almost felt like glaring. He settled for trying (unsuccessfully) to act like he was annoyed. “Why do you have to be so smug?”

La’gaan laughed. “Because that weight was light as hell.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “That’s because you lift a whole lot more,” he retorted, “You’re like a freaking tank.”

La’gaan gave Eddie a look as he gingerly moved off the weight-bench to lean against a bar running the length of the adjacent wall— not unlike some dance studios would have, or so La’gaan had been told. Apparently it was useful for helping with certain stretches, but he’d never really had any cause to use it himself. “Right. You could always just watch me lift a whole lot more. Like you have been for the past few weeks.”

“What can I say? You can be pretty distracting,” Eddie said with an amused look; as if that explained anything about why he liked watching La’gaan.

“Uh-huh,” La’gaan said, his tone somewhat dubious. It wasn’t the first time Eddie had made a comment along those lines, but there was no way La’gaan was about to take it seriously. “You’re not exactly subtle,” he said as laid down on the bench Eddie had vacated.

Eddie shrugged, not bothering to keep his body-language in check as his tail lazily flicked through the air behind him. “Why be subtle when being blunt with you works best?”

La’gaan started to lift the extremely heavy weight with relative ease. “Ever thought that you watching can be distracting?” he said, feigning annoyance. He actually didn’t mind or care that Eddie watched him. Truth be told, it hadn’t taken him long to get used to Eddie’s presence (and watching) during his workouts. Not that he’d ever admit as much out loud.

Eddie snorted. “Except if it was and you were actually annoyed by it, you wouldn’t hesitate to tell me to knock it the hell off.” He hefted himself up to perch on the bar with his back to the wall, loosely gripping the bar with his tail as he pulled his feet up under himself in a crouch. “So, obvious conclusion: despite your complaining you don’t actually mind.”

La’gaan internally cursed and stopped to get up and grab a heavier weight. “Maybe I don’t care,” he said, shrugging with a slight self-contempt for how quickly Eddie figured him out. It was bizarre the way Eddie seemed to zero in on the fine details of how he was feeling or what he was thinking without even trying; especially since so many of the others couldn’t seem to read him for anything (and the Bats didn’t count). “Why do you enjoy watching so much anyway?” he asked as he settled himself on the weight bench again.

Eddie smirked as he leaned forward a little, his grip on the bar the only thing keeping him from falling. For as much as he’d pushed himself it was surprising that he could maintain that grip and lean so far out without slipping. Quick recovery time perhaps. “Maybe I like your company. Or the view. Or both.”

“The view?” La’gaan echoed sarcastically. He sat up slightly to look at Eddie as he said it, giving him a ‘you’re insane’ look. Really, the idea of what Eddie was implying was completely ridiculous. “You’re crazier than I thought,” he said, dismissing the idea of being attractive in the slightest. If he was attractive, then purists were wonderful people who could be trusted around children, right alongside any other mass-murdering psychopaths they went up against on a routine basis.

“Crazy? Me? Why whatever gave you that idea?” Eddie grinned, his tone playful.

He sighed. “Point taken.”

Occasionally Eddie had bouts of hyperactivity, which La’gaan was fairly certain came from being a bit stir-crazy; something which was unsurprising considering the fact that neither of them could go casually strolling down the street. And when Eddie got in one of those moods… well… he tended to be a little off-the-wall. Like now.

Sitting up fully, La’gaan grabbed a nearby water bottle and took a drink. He was beginning to sweat, having worked out for 30 minutes so far. He usually worked out for 2 hours, and he likely would have been further along had he not had to rescue Eddie from his own stubbornness. (Not that he really minded.) “So did you get bored with watching literally everything on Netflix?” he asked. It sounded mean, but his tone wasn’t insulting at all. He was just asking why Eddie bothered come watch him. La’gaan tended to be blunt, something that often made him come off as far more harsh than he actually was, but he knew Eddie was used to it by now.

Eddie shrugged again, not even fazed in the slightest by La’gaan’s gruff tone. “Felt like harassing you to be honest. Believe it or not, I _do_ actually enjoy your company. Even if you think I’m nuts sometimes.”

“I think you’re nuts all the time,” La’gaan pointed out. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he was pleased by the laugh that earned, even if Eddie was trying to keep it in check. “And it is the company. Not the view,” he added conclusively, hiding how much he appreciated the young pyro. Some things didn’t need to be said or acknowledged. It was enough that everyone else on the team had their go-to person to hang out with, and it felt like La’gaan had finally gotten his.

Eddie pondered that for a moment, clearly debating how much he could get away with. “Mostly the company, but the view doesn’t hurt.”

“Right,” La’gaan said sarcastically. La’gaan frequently wished he could wear a glamour charm on a near-constant basis, so for Eddie to actually _like_ looking at him was fairly unbelievable. After all, if he didn’t like looking at himself, why would anyone else? “So what have you been up to lately Devilfish?” he asked, deliberately using his nickname for Eddie for the second time that day. It wasn’t that he’d intended to nickname Eddie, especially with something that blatantly affectionate (because quite frankly in most instances La’gaan didn’t _do_ that level of affection), but it was something that had just slipped out a few weeks prior and stuck. Eddie certainly hadn’t discouraged it, nor had he made a big deal of it, so rather than overthink it La’gaan had just gone with it.

Eddie smirked, recognizing the topic-change for what it was and letting it go. “Oh nothing much. Staying off the radar when not out in the field setting fire to things. The usual. Not exactly like I can go wandering around like this.” The vague motion at himself more than made his point. “Even as nice as I am, I really don’t feel like dealing with obnoxiously narrow-minded people running down the street away from me screaming.” Despite his words, there was a certain amount of self-deprecating humor in his tone. Humor to cover frustration? Probably. Then again, that was normal for him from what La’gaan had come to understand.

“Narrow minded?” La’gaan asked, smirking as he got up and walked over to grab an even heavier weight. He wasn’t using any magic to enhance his strength yet, but if he picked up something heavier he definitely would have to. “Narrow minded is too nice. Assholes would be more accurate,” he said before laying back down on the bench. “There’s as many heroes that look different as villains that look different.”

Eddie arched an eyebrow. “Except I pretty much look like the stereotype of a demon. Only thing I’m missing is the hooves. Get someone hyper-religious enough and next thing you know some nut would start throwing holy water at me. And, I’ll let you in on a secret, that shit _burns_.”

“I thought you said you were a meta?” La’gaan grunted, lifting the heavy weight. He was a bit confused about why holy water would burn Eddie if he was just a meta. To say that any sort of reaction to holy water was unusual would be an understatement; for the mild ‘magic’ attached to holy water to burn Eddie… It raised more questions than it answered.

Eddie fidgeted and briefly glanced away. From the looks of it, La’gaan had hit on one of many things Eddie tried to avoid talking about. It was obvious that Eddie didn’t want to answer that question, but he probably felt like he owed La’gaan more than one of his typical dodges. It was certainly enough to prompt him to awkwardly say, “It’s... complicated.”

La’gaan sat up in surprise and seized his water bottle to cover for his sudden movement, taking a deep drink as he looked at Eddie over the rim. Eddie’s comment hadn’t been an outright dodge, and that was interesting in and of itself. For a moment La’gaan considered prying, but then he decided against it. “I bet that it’s because of the magi-metagene,” he said, lying through his teeth and putting everything he had into making it convincing. “In my studies we came across it. Some meta-genes mimic magical properties, depending on a ton of different factors.” He wanted to give Eddie an out if he wanted one. He wanted an answer, some sort of explanation for the bizarre mystery that was his closest friend on the team, but he also didn’t want to risk scaring Eddie off. Staying confused about some details was preferable to the idea of the pyrokinetic avoiding him outright.

Eddie shrugged. If he recognized the out for what it was, then he wasn’t giving any acknowledgement beyond a brief flash of what could be interpreted as relief. Even so, when he spoke his comment was noncommittal and vague— not an outright lie, but not completely forthcoming either. “Could be. Don’t know. There are some things about me that are a little... hard to explain?”

“Welcome to the world of magic and superpowers,” La’gaan said sarcastically before getting up to stretch for a second. He could feel some of the muscles of his shoulders trying to seize up, but since he wasn’t anywhere near done with his workout he was hoping that stretching would help dissipate the feeling.

Eddie gave an amused snort of laughter. “That’s one way to put it.” His tail weaved back and forth, a release of his vague nervous tension. For a moment La’gaan thought that Eddie would stay quiet for a while, but no, he could never stay silent when he was agitated. “Here’s a random question— though feel free not to answer if you don’t want to— since you’ve dealt with magic, metas, and everything in-between... What’s the weirdest type of person you’ve ever run into?”

“Hmmm,” La’gaan hummed, taking another drink of water. Not an unreasonable question, even if it sounded like it came from out of nowhere. Then again, sometimes Eddie had a habit of approaching things in a roundabout way when he wasn’t certain how what he wanted to say would be received. It could easily be that Eddie was trying to push himself to tell La’gaan more than he had. “Anyone with extra limbs,” he finally said. He almost involuntarily glanced at Eddie’s tail and decided to rephrase it a bit. “…that completely disrupt their biology. Having three extra hands or an extra eye is always odd.”

Eddie laughed at the obvious glance. He had never been shy about laughing at himself, and he’d made it abundantly clear on more than one occasion that he knew (and didn’t care) that his tail was odd. He certainly didn’t care to get rid of it even though he could shift it away at any time. In response to La’gaan’s clarification he cocked his head to the side in curiosity, likely trying to imagine what those possibilities might look like. “...That does sound pretty freaking bizarre.”

“It is. It’s a pain in the ass to study too,” he agreed. He’d majored in intercultural language, as well as intercultural magic and meta powers at the conservatory; calling the things he’d seen and had to learn about ‘bizarre’ was an understatement. There were some concepts that gave him a headache to think about, even now. Brushing the thought aside, he set aside the water bottle and laid back down to go to work on the bench press again. At the rate he was going his workout was going to be stretched into three hours rather than his usual two. Annoying, but he couldn’t deny the fact that the occasional unplanned pauses left him feeling less weary.

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up. “Anatomical study?” It was something he obviously hadn’t expected, but from his tone it was obvious that he had no doubts that La’gaan had told him the truth.

“Yeah. It comes up when you look at healing magic, but also when you study meta-humans or mages of other cultures and races.” He shrugged, though the motion was far from an easy one to make while he was lifting the weights. “Whenever you study for a degree in Atlantis, you also have classes improve your magic skills. Specialization and all that.”

“Huh.” Eddie thought that over for a few moments, absorbing and processing. “...And I suppose it’s safe to say that you just enjoy being quiet enough to keep people guessing?”

“Guessing what exactly?” La’gaan asked, pausing yet again to glance at the pyro. He knew what Eddie meant, but sometimes it was mildly amusing to pretend that he didn’t. “I’m a lot more versatile than people expect. I know over 500 different spells by memory, and a lot more with the books I have in my room. Of course, not a whole lot of those spells are offensive, but it helps when I have the advantage of being underestimated.” Despite his in-your-face fighting style, he had become quite the tactician, a far cry from the reckless kid he’d been a year ago.

For a moment Eddie’s eyes glowed a bit brighter, though whether out of amusement or something else was difficult to decipher. “‘Underestimation, ever thy greatest weapon’,” Eddie quoted thoughtfully. For a moment it was almost as if he was lost in memories, but he shook it off. “I can see where that would be useful.”

“Yeah,” La’gaan agreed before returning his focus to his workout. He grunted as he lifted the barbell, unable to repress the sound. The thing looked gigantic, he knew that, and a distracted part of his mind couldn’t help but wonder what Eddie might think at the sight.

La’gaan could see Eddie eyeing the weights for a moment or two out of the corner of his eye. From the looks of it he was probably contemplating how much pain he’d be in if he tried lifting the weights La’gaan was working with. “...I’d like to lay claim to that sort of forethought, but when you’re a wreck for four months straight it kind of makes that difficult,” he said in a wry tone.

“What do you mean?” La’gaan asked, confused. It wasn’t confusion he bothered to hide, though at least this time he didn’t pause in his exercise.

Eddie hesitated for a moment before answering. “Well, for one, I don’t know what all I’m capable of.” He shrugged, as if to try to dismiss the seriousness of that fact. “Didn’t help that I got caught by the Reach before they were driven off. I kind of... had the worst panic attack in the history of panic attacks and went on the run for four months. Until I ended up in Gotham.” That was more than Eddie had admitted to in the entire time La’gaan had known him, and the fact that he couldn’t seem to keep still spoke to the truth of it. It floored him.

He carefully set the barbell on the support bars before letting go so he could sit up again and direct his gaze at Eddie. After a beat or two he asked, “Did you know I was captured by the Reach too?” It was something he didn’t like talking about, didn’t like remembering, but the fact that Eddie had admitted that much deserved at least some response. “Their whole thing for me was pain tolerance,” he said, “They wanted to find my limits. Luckily, they didn’t.” He empathized with Eddie, he really did. True, what La’gaan had gone through was painful, but it hadn’t been enough to make him break; it hadn’t been enough to make him panic, not the way Eddie had. And the fact that whatever Eddie had been through was enough to make the fire-wielder run non-stop for four months… He didn’t even want to imagine what could have been that bad. “I get what those bastards did. I’m sorry Eddie.”

Eddie shrugged and for a moment his temperature fluctuated before he clamped down and got it back under control. “I confused them. I was singled out. Too ‘unique’ to throw in with everyone else.” He huffed a laugh, ironic and full of morbid humor. “I might have caused an explosion or two. Can’t really remember. Just teleported out with a giant blast of flames and took I-don’t-know-how-long to be able to think again rather than just running. Like I said— complete wreck for four months.”

Hearing that _hurt_. It wasn’t often that La’gaan got hit with the desire to violently protect one of the others on the team, but this was definitely one of those instances. “Sounds like it sucked. I probably would’ve done the same,” La’gaan said. “I mean, if I could teleport. Which I can’t.” That meant a lot coming from him, with his whole ‘bury his feelings’ way of tackling life. He felt bad for Eddie, but it wasn’t like him to express that like anyone else on the team would have. He knew, probably better than most, when sympathy from others had the potential to be infuriating. Neither of them were made of glass, so for La’gaan to treat Eddie as if he was would have been an insult— protective impulses notwithstanding.

He got up to grab an even heavier weight, his tattoos glowing faintly as he increased his strength slightly. This was normal for him when working out; he always increased his strength just slightly, matching the increase in the amount of weight he was lifting, so that while he lifted heavier and heavier weights he would be pushing himself at the same level he had been before including magic. It gave him a workout for both body and magic, and the effect it had had on his endurance since he’d first started doing it was undeniable.

Eddie wrinkled his nose as he said, “Teleporting _is_ useful— when I don’t have to worry about setting everyone around me on fire when I do it. Still working out how to get the flames in check on that one.” He comfortably sat in silence (or more like ‘perched’) and watched La’gaan. It was reassuring to know that La’gaan had extended just as much trust, or at least a comfortable acceptance of that trust, as he had. That was certainly progress, at least in Eddie’s eyes. He wanted to get to know La’gaan better, he definitely sensed that there was a lot going on behind those crimson eyes. He wanted to be there for La’gaan when that came to light. He knew better than anyone how nasty it could be when secrets came to light; the secrets in the depths of his memories being the cause for that. Truth be told, he could watch La’gaan working out for hours— and it didn’t hurt that it helped distract him from memories he’d rather not focus on.

“Well maybe that’s an area to work on then. It could be useful.” La’gaan got up and splashed some water on himself to cool down; he was getting overly sweaty and hot. It wasn’t really for Eddie’s benefit, it was much easier for him to stay hydrated when he had water on his skin and in his gills too. He often did it while working out, as he was adapted to being underwater, and thus, constantly hydrated. It made things a lot easier. Although, he definitely was eager to see Eddie’s reaction. That was always… _entertaining_.

For a moment it was as if Eddie’s mind went completely blank. His jaw almost dropped as he nearly fell off his perch. Thankfully, he quickly snapped himself out of it, his eyes darting away as he blushed profusely. Internally he was grateful for his physiology. His blushing wasn’t as obvious as it could have been thanks to his red skin-tone. He wasn’t worried that La’gaan would have noticed his blushing, he just really hoped the atlantean hadn’t noticed the way he’d been staring. He really didn’t want to have explain that, whether truth or lie. The lie would have been hard to come up with, and he definitely didn’t want to see if his feelings were reciprocated. Not to mention potentially ruining the friendship he had worked so hard to build. “Yeah,” he agreed, still not looking at La’gaan before adding a tad awkwardly, “It could be.”

La’gaan noticed it all. The stare, the quick look away, the abnormally short response. He was well aware of how Eddie thought of him, even if he wasn’t aware of his own feelings for the fire-wielder. “Devilfish, can I ask you a question?” he asked, getting an idea. This idea would have accompanied a smirk of cosmic proportions, but La’gaan managed to keep a straight face, although it took everything within him to keep his composure. He knew the payoff would definitely be worth it and would prove _very_ entertaining.

Eddie’s eyes darted back to La’gaan, his look curious. “Yeah? What is it?”

“When you blush does the skin around your cheeks get slightly darker?” he said, smirking to himself as he laid back down to hoist the barbell above his head. He was dying to see Eddie’s reaction, and was watching him out of the corner of his eye. This would be _so_ good.

Eddie froze for a moment as his eyes went wide. He breathed in and tried not to panic, starting to understand what a ‘deer in the headlights’ feeling truly meant. He once again fidgeted, raking a hand through his hair (by now he was only holding onto the bar with his feet and tail), before sheepishly admitting, “That’s... not inaccurate.” He was cringing internally, and reflecting on all of his life choices.

La’gaan suppressed the desire to laugh. He kept the same emotionless exterior, knowing he would need it to let the situation play out. “Good to know. You blush a lot in here,” he noted, his tone as apathetic as ever, “Especially when you first started watching me work out.” He wasn’t entirely clueless, but later, after Eddie got over being embarrassed, he knew Eddie would see the flirting. It wasn’t like La’gaan was intentionally flirting with him, but then again, La’gaan would probably recognize what he was doing later as well.

Eddie aimed an unenthused look at La’gaan, though it did nothing to get rid of his blush. In fact it got worse. “You could have said something before now,” he grumbled, though it was all too obvious that he wasn’t actually upset. He further impressed on his lack of annoyance by adding, “And can you honestly blame me?”

“I’m not blaming you for anything. Simply noting a trend. And I didn’t say anything because I didn’t notice anything,” he said, looking over with no expression. He saw, and enjoyed, how badly Eddie was blushing and resisted the urge to laugh. He kept a straight face, as difficult as that was; he wanted to play this for as long as he possibly could.

Eddie snorted and crossed his arms. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care that the way he was perched on the bar was vaguely reminiscent of a gargoyle. “A trend I’m blaming you for,” Eddie retorted. He felt like his blush was creeping onto his ears.

“And I’m blaming the trend for the fact that it’s getting hotter in here. Might need to go get more water,” he said smugly.

Oh shit... Eddie hadn’t thought his blush could get any worse— he’d just been proven wrong. He was definitely turning a shade or two darker. “You- you’re... Damn it La’gaan, that’s just vicious!” he protested. “You’re already hot as hell. Do you have to rub it in?”

“One, you’re wrong about me being hot. Two, yes, yes I really do,” he said, drinking the last of his water. Was he feeling smug? Absolutely. “I’m going to go refill this,” he said, walking out abruptly. As soon as Eddie was out of sight, he smiled ear to ear, getting all of it out. Oh, that was just _way_ too good.

Eddie’s jaw worked for a moment or two (for a moment he’d actually looked like he was about to lose his balance and fall off the bar), but before he could pull his thoughts together enough to form a coherent sentence La’gaan was out of the room. Letting his face fall into his hands, Eddie gave a frustrated groan. “Way to make a complete idiot of yourself Eddie,” he grumbled. Yeah, La’gaan hadn’t seemed put off by Eddie’s comments, but Eddie wasn’t entirely certain if the interest was mutual— though some of that teasing was a hint of something Eddie was desperately wishing wasn’t false hope. “My crush is going to kill me.”

A few minutes later La’gaan came wandering back in with his water and resumed working out as if nothing had happened. He liked Eddie. More than he realized. This wasn’t at all like with M’gann. They could tease and laugh at each other for days and it was great. It felt natural, like breathing. Breathing water, that is. _‘Oh god, am I comparing him to M’gann?!’_ he thought in shock. He breathed out, gaining control of himself. He didn’t know how to feel, so he didn’t. He just decided to act natural for the next hour of his workout. Better to just shut down that line of thinking right now before it could get out of hand.

Fortunately, by the time La’gaan came back Eddie had managed to collect himself. For a while he busied himself by carefully walking back and forth on the bar he’d been perched on (a rather impressive feat considering the fact that there wasn’t that much space between the bar and the wall it was anchored to), but eventually he came to a stop— perched and watching La’gaan again. For just a fleeting moment he wondered if he’d be able to keep his balance on the weights La’gaan was lifting— while La’gaan was lifting them. Rather than put that thought into the open, he shoved it aside. The last thing he needed was to make himself blush any worse than he already was. “So...,” he said, finally breaking the silence, “Anything planned for the day, beyond making me fall over myself like an awkward doofus?”

“Well, as entertaining as that is, I don’t really have any plans,” La’gaan said, “Besides the power workout.” He rarely had any plans, with no secret identity or regular job to manage, he never had much to do. It depressed him sometimes, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as most people assumed.

Eddie rolled his eyes before deliberately teasing, “Oh yes, because that’s the way to spend all of your waking hours. Not that I’m complaining.” Eddie smirked. It wasn’t like he was much better off, he lived in the base as well, and it definitely got boring.

“Better than sitting on the couch all day watching movies,” he countered. “I also get on the justice league database to monitor global activity. Someone has to do it.”  
Eddie raised an eyebrow before playfully saying, “Are you trying to imply that I ‘waste’ my time and do nothing but watch movies? And don’t even try to imply that there’s anything better to do.”

“Exactly, nothing better to do. Just like I waste my time working out,” he said. “It’s not like either of us can have lives outside the cave, and I definitely prefer it here to Atlantis.” He said it with the brutal honesty he was known for. Life in the cave got _really_ boring.

He chuckled before saying, “True enough. And if we’re both ‘wasting’ our time, does that mean I’m ‘wasting’ my time by insisting on pestering you— which would then be ‘wasting’ your time by distracting you from ‘wasting’ your own time?” Eddie smirked at La’gaan, knowing the usual reaction to his wordplay was for La’gaan to roll his eyes or ignore it.

“Is it really wasting time if there’s nothing else to do with it?” he asked, going for ignoring the wordplay as he grabbed a heavier barbell and upped his magic. He was thankful his body no longer inflated when he increased his strength. Then again, he already had significant muscle mass without the inflation. Probably the cause for Eddie’s earlier blushing.

Before Eddie could even stop himself, he said, “In that case would you say my watching you _isn’t_ a ‘waste’ of time?” He felt like facepalming the moment the words were out of his mouth— _‘Of all the thick-headed things to say!’_ — but he felt that trying to play it off as if he’d said it on purpose was better than making himself an awkward wreck again. As the old saying went in acting circles, ‘when you screw up just keep going, and hardly anyone will notice’.

“Depends. Do you enjoy it?” he asked smugly, not at all passing up the opportunity to make Eddie blush again. He shrugged. “Because if you enjoy doing something, it’s not wasting your time.”

Damn it. Sure enough, Eddie couldn’t repress the flustered blush. At this rate La’gaan was going to get him to blush so much that Eddie wouldn’t have been surprised if he accidentally melted something. “Wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn't,” he replied bluntly. Flustered or no, he wasn’t about to try to cover for the fact that he felt that La’gaan was attractive. Better to be flustered and feel slightly awkward than risk letting La’gaan’s issues about his looks kick in.

“Well I certainly don’t mind you staring at my abs if that makes you feel better about it,” La’gaan said bluntly. He smirked as he lifted the barbell again, as if he didn’t have the slightest care in the world. The same couldn’t be said for Eddie.

And he was back to blushing, about as bad as before. Again. “...If it’s possible to die of blushing, then I think you’re going to kill me one of these days.” At least he had an open invitation to enjoy the view (which he quite thoroughly appreciated).

“I mean I notice you like my chest over my biceps and abs,” La’gaan continued. He was making this shit up, but he really wanted to see how much he could make Eddie blush. He felt a little bad, but the payoff was worth it. And considering how often Eddie left him speechless, this was just payback. If death by blushing was actually possible, he was planning on putting poor Eddie into a coma. “So why would that be?”

If Eddie’s skin tone had been in the normal range for surface-dwellers, he probably would have almost been as red as his natural skin tone. “You are enjoying my suffering way too much, you know that?” Despite his embarrassment he was perfectly willing to laugh at himself as usual. “And you’re all-around hot. It’s just... y’know... Your chest is an easy central point to focus on?” He _really_ didn’t want to get into a more detailed explanation than that. Admitting bluntly that he thought La’gaan was hot was one thing; making the sort of involved pass at La’gaan that describing the thoughts that played through his mind would entail, was something completely different.

“Oh no, I think I want a full explanation, because you sir, just screwed up. The central point on anyone’s body is the stomach,” he said, being very dramatic. “I think I’d like to know.” He was laughing and didn’t bother fighting it. Payback. He was getting it for all the times Eddie teased him about his failure at all his stupid video games. All the times Eddie’s wordplay had put him into an awkward place. Oh yes, this would be _good_.

Eddie made an inarticulate flustered sound, which he knew couldn’t help but make La’gaan laugh, before finally giving into the impulse to facepalm as he blushed the worst he probably had in his entire life. “Normally when we’re both standing I’d have to be looking down to stare at your stomach,” he said, his voice muffled as he curled in on himself. He had the distinct feeling that he was damn near full-body blushing at this point. If that was possible. Hell, this whole situation was probably scientific proof that full-body blushing was possible. “Focusing on your chest is usually easier. Happy? Now that you’ve nearly succeeded in killing me?”

“Yes. Strangely I am. Now I know exactly why you enjoy hugs so much,” he said, being witty. He was backing off at this point, mostly because he had been enough of a jerk. “Thank you for walking me through it.” On the other hand, what was one last tease? “I mean I really don’t mind. Consider that a compliment by itself,” he said, laughing smugly. This was comedy gold for La’gaan, for some reason. He figured that he probably shouldn’t enjoy this so much.

Eddie was glad that he’d grown up around actors, he really was; otherwise he was certain he’d be dead on the spot from embarrassment. “That’s… I don’t… You… You are going to kill me. I am going to die at this rate. All because you’re way too amused at my suffering over you and how infuriatingly hot you are.” He sighed. This was probably one of the most embarrassing moments he’d had in a while.

La’gaan laughed. “Call me a sadist, but this was insanely fun. Plus, now I know exactly how to make you blush. I really don’t have to do anything except flex,” he said. Never mind the fact that he hadn’t flexed for Eddie. That would take more time, but he figured he might as well throw the tease out there, even if it was pointless.

“Sadist,” Eddie retorted. “And you keep on trying to insist that you’re not attractive. Don’t know who you’re fooling with that one.” He finally climbed down off the bar and huffed, “Should I worry that you’re going to be holding your hotness and the threat of distracting me over my head?” He sighed; La’gaan practically did that by existing, but this was definitely a step up.

“I don't know,” he said before asking with a smirk, “How would I hold it over your head?” And backing off from teasing Eddie was proving more difficult than he’d thought, just because it was proving far too entertaining. “And I mean, if all I have to do is flex a little to turn you into a stammering mess, does this mean I’ve got a secret weapon?” La’gaan said, having fun with it. He would probably never do this if he and Eddie weren’t alone, he didn’t think his embarrassment in front of others would be funny. But when it was just between them, it was an entirely different story.

Eddie gave an aggravated groan as he fell back against the wall (not that it was much of a distance) with a distinct thump. “No... Yes... Probably? You’re going to exploit this for your own amusement, aren’t you?” He sighed, exasperated. This was way too much at once.

“Probably will. It’s hilarious that you’re the speechless one for once,” La’gaan said, a bit happy about the roles being reversed. The roles would probably return back to normal in a few hours anyway. He would definitely be the one who was embarrassed sooner or later. It was like Eddie somehow amped up his tendency to shoot himself in the foot.

Eddie was both frustrated and glad that La’gaan was so amused. At least it was a blatantly obvious sign that he didn’t mind the fact that Eddie had a huge crush on him. “You are awful,” he said, trying not to laugh uncontrollably. “I call unfair advantage.”

“How do I have an unfair advantage? Not my fault that my arms are the size of your legs.” He was exaggerating, but he did have nice arms. “Typically I’m the one in your place, completely speechless and not knowing what to say. You’re the one who has a way with words here Devilfish,” he pointed out, smug again.

Eddie shifted from one foot to the other. Staying relatively still was proving impossible. “Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a _little_. But it’s still an unfair advantage that you can turn me into a babbling idiot.” He was still blushing; at this rate he was sure he’d be blushing for days. He thought of something though, a way to turn the tables.

“You do that to me all the time,” La’gaan said. He didn’t mind too much, but he didn’t feel like admitting that out loud _ever_. “Also, you’re raising the temperature in here again,” he said, falling right into Eddie’s trap. Verbal trap, that is.

“Agh, sorry!” he said before his temperature plummeted again. His eyes darted to meet La’gaan’s and he smirked. _‘He took the bait.’_ Finally, once his temperature was back to normal, he asked, “Are you saying that I’m distracting— or weird— enough that you’re prone to tripping over your words?”

Now it was La’gaan’s turn to stutter. “Well... Maybe. I mean, it’s not that you’re weird, I mean, um...” He trailed off. Dammit. He knew it was only a matter of time before Eddie got the upper hand again. He always did.

A slow grin started to creep onto Eddie’s face and he stood upright, pulling himself away from the wall. “So it’s safe to say that you enjoy my hanging around and being a pest?” Trap, sprung.

La’gaan sat up and glared at him, although at this point it was obvious about how he really felt. “No...,” he said before rolling his eyes. “Okay fine. Yes, I occasionally... find you entertaining. Happy?” He kept glaring stubbornly. Why the hell did this always happen?

Eddie couldn’t keep the grin from his face. He clearly wasn’t taking La’gaan’s glare seriously— unsurprising considering the fact that he was oddly gifted with being able to figure out when La’gaan was actually annoyed rather than pretending to be annoyed. La’gaan was strangely convincing in that department. “Only occasionally?” he teased. His tail was back to weaving through the air lazily, a drawn-out motion that practically broadcasted his amusement.

“Yes, only occasionally,” he said, obviously lying. “Besides, I liked it a lot when you watched me work out. You were too busy drooling to actually say anything to potentially annoy me.” The last part of that statement wasn’t true, Eddie rarely annoyed La’gaan anymore. But La’gaan would be damned before he gave Eddie any more leeway into his emotional state. He hated people being tangled up in his feelings, even if he trusted them. He had been burned by that last time, having been the guy who spilled his heart to have it thrown back. It wasn’t a situation he cared to walk into again.

The glow from Eddie’s eyes brightened. Oh damn it all, he knew; he somehow knew what wasn’t being said. With an amused smirk he said, “Well I think it’s pretty obvious that I enjoy your company too. And it’s good to know that you actually _like_ me watching.” His smirk turned into a conspiratorial grin without any bite to it. “And I promise to preserve your pride and not tell anyone.”

La’gaan was blushing at this point, thoroughly not knowing how to feel or what to think. “Dammit Eddie, you better not,” he said, laying down on the bench again. More leverage in those fiery hands. He knew Eddie wouldn’t blackmail him, but it didn’t change his internal need to keep control, as unhealthy as it was.

“I would never,” Eddie said bluntly. “Last thing I want to do is embarrass you to the point where you’d want to punch someone. Not really conducive to the whole ‘wanting you to be willing to put up with my company’ thing. You know?” At least now his blush was starting to fade, even if it was only a little.

La’gaan smirked and lifted the weight again. “Guess you have a point there,” he admitted.

Eddie made his way over to perch on a chair closer to La’gaan, about half a foot from the end of the weights La’gaan was currently using. If he’d been given the approval to watch and hadn’t annoyed La’gaan to violence, then it only made sense to take advantage of that fact and be a bit closer. “Of course I have a point,” he laughed, “If I didn’t know when to shut my trap I doubt you’d put up with me.”

“Also true.” La’gaan said. He hated people who talked just to hear themselves talk. He knew Eddie was overly social, but he sure as hell wasn’t annoying. He got up to grab some dumbbells. He had mostly been doing the bench press so far, so he needed to work on his arms rather than his chest. He had already done workouts for his abs and legs, so this was the last portion.

Eddie stayed put, watching as La’gaan moved around the room. He didn't bother hiding how he was watching the way La’gaan moved— no point in denying the obvious after all. He was comfortable with the silence, but his mind was far from quiet. He was tempted to ask La’gaan about his past— how many relationships he’d been in, if any had been serious, if he really thought no one could find him attractive— but at the same time he had a strong feeling that that sort of prying would have been the wrong move. So he watched, and vaguely tried to form a coherent thought that wouldn’t feel as if it pried into too much.

La’gaan grabbed the dumbbells and started to use them, sitting down on the bench and lifting them. He definitely didn’t mind the way Eddie was looking at him, although he would never admit that. He didn’t bother to break the silence. He knew Eddie would do it within a few minutes at the absolute latest. Never a dull moment with this kid.

Eddie cocked his head to the side, watching and considering. Finally he spoke up, his tone cautious. “Mind if I ask something? Though feel free to tell me to let it go if you don’t want to answer.”

“Depends on the question,” La’gaan said, a little cautious about the situation.

“...Did... Has no one, other than me, ever told you that you’re hot as hell?” His tone could have been playful or teasing, but no— Eddie’s question was serious, thoughtful, and all too obviously came from genuine respectful curiosity. Not the sort of attitude that got directed at La’gaan all that often. Or ever.

La’gaan sighed. Dammit, this was getting too personal. “One other person,” he said simply. He was talking about Lori and, of course, he didn’t want to get into that failed relationship. It failed for all the reasons a relationship shouldn’t fail. Just one more example of how things in his life screwed up on a regular basis.

Eddie heard the discomfort all too clearly. He hesitated before saying in a subdued tone, “Didn’t end well, huh?” He immediately regretted asking. It was probably him being overly careful, but it was still awkward.

“No. It didn’t,” he said. His tone had a steel edge to it, stating firmly not to pursue the conversation any further. He hated talking about his exes, especially M’gann. Lori wasn’t so bad, but the title of ‘rebound guy’ angered him a lot more than he would ever let anyone know.

Eddie read the warning for what it was, so he deliberately shifted the focus. “If it helps any, I actually haven’t gotten all that much attention. Too isolated and all that. Even before I looked like this,” he said, trying to put La’gaan into a better mood. He realized that bringing up exes was probably one of the worst things he could have said in that situation, so it only made sense to change course.

“Consider it a gift,” La’gaan said bitterly, anger about his bad luck with relationships coloring his tone. He took his anger out on the weights he was lifting, lifting them with more force than he usually would. ‘Rebound guy’ rang in his ears again. It still hurt.

Eddie shrugged. He felt lousy for having touched on a sore spot, but he couldn’t take it back. Might as well make the most of it. “Could be. Or could not be. Would you believe that the first person around my age that I actually made friends with was Jason?” Now _that_ was news. That Eddie had been acquainted with ‘the violent Robin’ was something he’d already admitted to, but the fact that Jason had essentially been his first actual friend was something completely different.

“So you like hanging around the growly types?” La’gaan noted. “Makes sense I guess. Opposites attract and all of that.”

Eddie gave an amused smirk. “The growly types are honest, blunt, and I don’t ever have to wonder where I stand with them,” he answered honestly. “Case in point, you: If you couldn’t stand being around me, you wouldn’t make a secret about it. And I’ve dealt with more than enough people who can put on a pleasant face even when they’re complete assholes.”

La’gaan chuckled at that as he grabbed heavier weights. “So you prefer loyalty. Probably because someone took advantage of your good nature in the past right?” he said, understanding exactly what kind of person Eddie was. He definitely wasn’t stupid, and he knew that nice guys finished last all too often.

Eddie gave a snort of laughter. Though the sound was one of amusement, it was also one of agreement. “That’s an understatement. Accurate, but an understatement.” What wasn’t said spoke volumes and it definitely explained some of why Eddie tended to shy away from talking about his past.

La’gaan sighed. “The moral of the story is that life’s a bitch, right?” he asked rhetorically, shrugging. That was practically his life motto, given his background.

“True enough,” Eddie agreed. “Though at least it’s nothing like the time one jackass threw a cup of coffee at me.”

“What?” La’gaan said, chuckling. He had no idea what he’d expected Eddie to say, but it sure as hell hadn’t been _that_. “How the hell did that happen?”

“My aunt owned Bloomberg Studios, like I said. I was pretty much home-schooled, so I tended to be on set with her a lot. And me being me, it wasn’t uncommon for me to randomly fetch-and-carry to make myself useful so no one would mind me being around. There was this one actor— complete jackass— who demanded I get him a cup of coffee from the studio cafeteria. No big deal. Got it for him, he took one drink and then threw the damned thing at me because it didn’t have any freaking _cinnamon_. Could’ve easily been solved, but no— ‘Great Lord Jackass’ had to throw a damned fit. Only reason he didn’t get fired for that was because they were so damned close to finishing a movie and my aunt didn’t want to have to re-cast and re-shoot the entire damned thing,” Eddie explained, telling the story from memory. He was young at the time, probably about eight or nine. No… he’d been ten. Probably why it stuck so vividly in his mind.

“Hm,” La’gaan said. “Celebrities tend to be that way from what I’ve heard.” He shrugged before grabbing the weights and going at it again. “Then again, you don’t necessarily have to be famous to be an asshole,” he remarked thoughtfully. It was a little stereotypical to think of celebrities as douchebags who flaunted their wealth above the masses, especially considering the charities they founded and donated to oftentimes.

“Depends on the person really,” Eddie confirmed with a vague shrug. “Actually had quite a few actors stand in as my teachers. Ended up completely rocketing out of math classes due to learning physics concepts thanks to some of the set designers.” It was definitely an interesting way of learning. It was effective though, somehow.

“Maybe, but it’s the same way for everyone else I guess. Superheroes, celebrities, and everyone in between is still a person at the end of the day,” La’gaan said. He grabbed heavier weights. By this time his arms were pumped and looked like corded steel, and his tattoos were glowing a little more brightly, showing the subtle increase in his magic use.

Eddie watched with clear fascination. “...Also helped that I pretty much had free rein to experiment and build things that most people would never even imagine letting a kid near.”

“Must’ve been nice,” La’gaan grunted out in the middle of a rep. He absentmindedly wondered how Eddie had ended up here.

Eddie couldn’t help the smile that started creeping onto his face. “It was. Aside from one of the Bats, I’m probably the only person to have built a flash grenade when I was ten.” He smiled, reminiscing on the experience; it was surprisingly fun.

“Heh. I bet that went down well with your aunt,” La’gaan said while laying down to lift the weights in a slightly different way to workout different muscle groups.  
Eddie snickered outright. “Her exact words were, and I quote, ‘Though I know I should be horrified about this, at least you didn’t set fire to the couch again’.”

“Foreshadowing much there?” La’gaan chuckled. “Damn.” He muttered as he dropped a weight on the floor by accident.

Eddie was tempted to offer to help him pick the weight up off the floor, but he knew that it would be too heavy for him. He was glad the floor was pretty durable; if the floor had cracked he didn’t want to think of how much of a pain it would be to fix. “To be fair, when I caught the couch on fire it was an accident. Wasn’t all that old either.”

La’gaan picked it up, not tiring yet. “Sounds like you were a troublemaker. Not much has changed.” He looked out one of the gym windows and saw Tim and Conner walking to the living room.

Eddie laughed. “In some ways!” he protested. “I like to think that I’ve gotten a bit less reckless over the years.”

La’gaan smirked. “I’m sure,” he said, watching as Tim and Kon entered the living room. After he broke up with M’gann, Conner had become a friend; not something he would have imagined even as a possibility before M’gann broke it off. As such he couldn’t help thinking about the amount of time Tim and Kon spent together. Truth be told it looked like, against all sense, Conner had hit it off with Tim. It was as if the quiet Robin had some sort of calming effect on the demi-kryptonian. He seemed about as willing to put up with Tim’s eccentricities as La’gaan was for Eddie’s.

Speaking of said fire-wielder, he crossed his arms with a joking huff of false-irritation. “I’ll have you know that back when Jason was around I talked him out of doing all sorts of stupidly reckless things.”

“I’m sure you did Devilfish,” La’gaan said, a tad sarcastically. It was hard to believe that Eddie held back. Ever. He got up to grab a drink of water. For Eddie’s benefit, he didn’t splash it on himself like he did the first time, although it was tempting.

Eddie raised his eyebrows in a slightly dubious look. “He wanted to blow up a car once. And since I was more of the pyrotechnics expert, he wanted me to help him so it would go rocketing through the air. I didn’t let him.”

“Good,” La’gaan said. Jason was a bit of a sore topic for everyone, especially given his current status. He internally said ‘screw it’ and poured some water on his neck, over his gills. He figured he’d probably go for a swim after this workout.

Eddie hesitated, considered, then decided to just put out the most hilarious part of the incident. (Doing so would certainly help him not focus on the water cascading down La’gaan’s neck and chest.) “He settled for setting fire to a trashcan inside Penguin’s limo.”

La’gaan laughed as he put the weights away. He wished he had been there to see it. It would have been quite comical. He probably also would have been fairly helpful in the ensuing chaos. He decided he was done working out for the day and started to walk towards the pool. “Devilfish, can your hellfire burn underwater?” he asked curiously, half to get him to follow him, and half to tell him where they were going.

Eddie stood and followed La’gaan as he mulled the thought over. “I don’t know. I know that I can still generate enough heat to boil water if I really kick it up, but I haven’t really experimented to see if I can generate flames underwater.” He smirked as an idea of a way he’d like to try if he ever got the chance played through his mind.

La’gaan shrugged. “Just wondering.” He walked into the pool area and threw his water bottle and towel onto a chair. He cracked his fingers and sat along the edge of the pool for a second. He looked damn good after his workout, and absentmindedly wondered if Eddie noticed. He hoped he did, even if he didn’t want to admit it to Eddie.

Eddie, of course, couldn’t help but notice. Though he parked himself next to the pool (and not all that far from La’gaan actually), he kept side-eyeing the atlantean partly in curiosity, and partly in blatant admiration that he was trying to keep from going overboard. Eddie knew La’gaan looked his best after working out. Or fighting. Or anything really. But especially after a workout. “...One weird thing that I figured out about what I can do... If I’m too depressed and upset, I can pretty much make the temperature of a room plummet. In the worst cases it’s almost like a walk-in freezer,” Eddie said, trying to keep his mind away from getting lost in thinking about La’gaan’s arms.

“That explains Thanksgiving,” La’gaan said thoughtfully, alluding to the time he and Eddie had bonded over having no family left. Fun times. He slid into the pool and surfaced a moment later. The water only hit his waist, and he ran his hands down his neck as he surfaced, feeling a cramp. He cracked his neck, pressing his fingers against the area. Probably from laying down on a bench for the better part of two hours.

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up. “I was doing it then?” he said, thinking back to the day. Now that he thought about it, he probably was sucking the heat out of the rooms. He had felt pretty miserable that Thanksgiving.

“Yeah. The living room was pretty cold,” he said, absentmindedly waterbending the pool water a bit.

Eddie sighed, letting his gaze drop from La’gaan to the subtle waves he’d created. “Sorry about that. Since I don’t get like that all that often, I don’t always realize it when I’m doing it. Then again, after I ended up... like _this_ ,” he vaguely motioned at himself before continuing, “my sense of temperature is kind of shot most of the time. I mean, I can feel it, but it usually doesn’t register enough for me to really notice unless I’m paying attention.” Another sigh escaped him, he was feeling a little depressed about all of it. It certainly was a hell of a lot easier being normal, or at least it had been. Everyone wants to be a hero until their wish comes true, and Eddie was a prime example of that.

“Why are you apologizing?” La’gaan asked, sounding a tad more sympathetic than usual. “No one blames you for this Eddie. We all have shit that we deal with, and we all do that differently. No one really has a place to judge someone else’s method of dealing with their issues. I mean, if they did then my…. anti-social behavior wouldn’t go over nearly as well.” He shrugged. He wasn’t nearly as bad anymore, but he certainly tended to be much quieter than several others.

Eddie snorted. “Except if you get depressed then you don’t have to worry about giving someone frostbite.” He rolled his shoulders, trying to shove off some of the various memories he didn’t care to think about. “Sure, we’ve all got our issues— we sure as hell wouldn’t be doing what we do if we didn’t— but with me... I could cause a hell of a lot of damage without even trying. Keeping it in check is a small price to pay for being able to live with myself.” Yet again, serious words delivered with a levity that almost disguised how serious the comment was. Though come to think of it, Eddie hadn’t said a thing about when he’d physically changed or what had happened to cause it, just that it had happened. Few metas changed that drastically, and his comments that skirted around saying outright that he was a threat if he lost control, hinted that there was far more going on than a drastic manifestation of being meta.

“Right,” La’gaan said, swimming over to the edge of the pool where Eddie was sitting. He was starting to piece together what happened to Eddie, just as Eddie was starting to piece together what happened to him. “Did you know magic can work the same way? Kaldur and I meditate an hour a day to keep emotions and magic from mixing together. Doesn’t always work,” he said, empathizing. La’gaan wouldn’t let Eddie know just how powerful he was when it came to magic. After all, he had been at a much higher level than students his age at the conservatory, and he had a lot of magic power that few other atlanteans could match. Needless to say, his expressions of rage usually accompanied water moving in rather unpredictable patterns.

For just the barest moment La’gaan could see the echoing hurt from long-past memories flashing through Eddie’s eyes. And then, as he always did, Eddie shoved back the pain with humor. “I suppose I should get my shit together,” he said with a faint smile, “At least, more than I have since I ended up in Gotham. At least I’m not as much of a wreck as I was then.”

La’gaan was disappointed for a second that Eddie was so scared of opening up. Then he shrugged and considered just how much more terrified he was of letting the truth about his own background out. He figured time would tell all for both of them. “I was a wreck all through school. I did not handle stress very well,” he said, smirking, thinking back to his days of school.

An amused snort escaped Eddie before he could stop himself. “Sorry. Just imagining the number of fights you probably got into because jackasses didn’t keep their mouths shut.” He figured La’gaan won those fights. He was so gravely wrong about that.

“You mean the amount of idiots with injuries in my wake. You would be right,” La’gaan lied convincingly. In school, it didn’t take long for his tormentors to figure out attacking in groups was the best strategy; which sucked for him, leading to a lot of injuries that a fourteen-year-old had trouble explaining. Then again, it wasn’t like his instructors cared. He wasn’t rich, he wasn’t poor, and he wasn’t terribly socially talented; so no one cared. La’gaan hated that with every fiber of his being, so he lied. About the entire experience. Every time.

Eddie’s eyes briefly brightened before dimming back down, but his amusement at the thought didn’t fade. In a way he was slightly envious at the thought— there was something rather satisfying about the idea of being able to strike out at someone who well and truly deserved it— but at the same time he didn’t wish the shit he knew La’gaan had likely had to deal with on anyone. And then a somewhat devious thought crossed his mind. He couldn’t help the grin that started to creep onto his face. “You know how you were just asking if I could use my flames underwater? The thought occurs to me, if I was ever down there with you and someone decided to be a jackass, we could always find out.”

La’gaan chuckled. “I appreciate that Devilfish,” he remarked, resting on the edge of the pool. He shrugged. Who knew, maybe he could get Eddie a mask and they could spend a holiday in Atlantis. He internally sighed. He was getting way more attached to the pyrokinetic than he wanted to admit. More attached than was safe, in his mind. He never handled attachment well.

“What are friends for?” he laughed as he gently nudged La’gaan’s elbow with his knee. “...Even if said friend is an occasionally mopey fire-wielding, surface-dweller who’s a little bit crazy,” he said, smiling brightly.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s not like I could find anyone else to deal with my shit on a regular basis,” he chuckled, with a bit of self-deprecating humor.

“And to think, you started out not trusting me and worried that I was going to be a demonic little shit,” he teased before sheepishly adding, “Though considering my dodging, I don’t exactly blame you.” Well! _That_ was definitely a change. Prior to that moment Eddie hadn’t actually admitted outright that he deliberately avoided answering questions about himself and his past. An outright admission like that, if nothing else, at least contained the suggestion that eventually Eddie would be completely honest with La’gaan.

La’gaan smiled genuinely, practically beaming at the thought. He was happy that he would eventually reach that level of trust with Eddie, provided he didn’t screw it up. He didn’t even say anything, just stayed lost in the moment. Eddie had that effect on him, like a sedative and a shot of adrenaline all at once, and he was hooked on it.

Eddie had the rather distinct feeling that if La’gaan kept smiling at him like that, he’d be blushing for the rest of his life. He glanced away, his cheeks and ears no doubt turning a darker shade of red, and he grumbled, “And we’re back to you possibly killing me by making me blush.”

“That makes no sense. I’m not flexing anything,” La’gaan joked lightly, nudging Eddie’s leg amiably. He sighed, wondering where they would be in a few months.

Eddie locked his eyes back on La’gaan and retorted, “I think we can officially add when you’re smiling like _that_ to the list of things likely to make me turn into a babbling idiot.” He didn’t miss the sigh, but as flustered as he was— because damn it, NO, Eddie was NOT going to think about how he was tempted to throw himself at La’gaan, just NO— he wasn’t entirely certain how to respond. He also wasn’t certain how to respond to La’gaan’s jokes. La’gaan didn’t joke very often. Eddie knew that. He knew that it meant he was making progress.

La’gaan smirked. “Well it’s probably good that I don’t smile too often. Wouldn’t want to embarrass you.” Was it terrible of him to tease Eddie? …Maybe. It was almost more fun than it probably should be. “It’s also good that I’m not so much of a sadist to embarrass you on a regular basis,” he laughed before pausing for a moment in thought, and then decided that throwing in another prod was worth it. “Well, no, I’m not so much of a sadist to embarrass you in front of people. After today, who knows how often this will happen.” He shrugged, smirking.

Eddie rolled his eyes, though he was far from annoyed— though _damn it_ the butterflies could calm down any second now!— and said, “Lucky me: The hot-as-hell atlantean is nice enough to not be as much of a demonic-pain-in-the-ass as I look.”

“You’re sure you’re not high or something? You’d have to be to call me hot as hell,” La’gaan said, rolling his eyes. His internalized hate of his appearance wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Oh screw this. This was one point on which Eddie was not going to budge. “If I’m high on something, you’re the Queen of England,” he retorted. “And at the rate we’re going, we’re pretty much running an experiment to find out if it is possible to die blushing, and if it is I’ll probably be the first case of it because you are too freaking gorgeous for your own good and enjoy making me turn into a complete idiot around you.” One of his primary goals, if not the major one, in his relationship with La’gaan was to get rid of his appearance issue. He was prepared to call La’gaan beautiful as often as it took until he looked in the mirror without a metaphorical blindfold on. He would. Not. Budge.

La’gaan gave an overstated shrug. “Fine. If you think I’m hot, then you can think that,” he said, exhaling, “I will never, ever, believe you.” He rolled his eyes to emphasize his words, though the latter part sounded more like he was convincing himself.

Eddie huffed. _‘Stubborn jerk.’_ Throwing all caution to the wind, Eddie started ticking his points off on his fingers as he spoke, hoping that it would be enough to get through to La’gaan. “One: you’ve got abs to die for. There are people who would kill to have abs like yours. Two: your chest looks like the model someone would use for a statue. Three: you’ve got the sort of arms that I- that people freaking fantasize about on a routine basis.” He hoped La’gaan didn’t notice his stumble, but he continued anyway. “Four: Holy shit, don’t even get me started on your back. Five: you’ve got a smile that makes it damned difficult to breathe— Do I need to keep going? Because I will if I have to.”

La’gaan laughed. “Muscles don’t equal attractive. And when those muscles have green scales over them, they are definitely not attractive. My eyes are as red as your skin when you’re not blushing, and I have fins. Not. Attractive,” he insisted. He was about to list the reasons Eddie was hotter than him, but decided that that would show way too much.

Once again Eddie scoffed. There was no way in hell he was going to let this fly. “You think, because you’re covered in green scales, have fins, and that your eyes are as red as I am that that makes you unattractive?” Eddie shook his head. For a moment he was torn between not wanting to turn into an awkward wreck and plowing on ahead to make his point. On this, though, he was more than ready to stubborn his way through any awkwardness he felt. “You wouldn’t be you without the fins. It’s needed. It’d be like me without hair. And okay, call me a little weird, but I don't think your fins are ‘ugly’ in the slightest. The green scales? Also needed. In case you haven’t noticed, when you come out of the water you freaking _shine_. It’s like looking at sunlight rippling on the ocean floor. And your eyes? Hate to break it to you, not really, but also necessary. There are times where your eyes are like a freaking sunset- and shut up, I don’t care if that’s not accurate.” He aimed a warning look at La’gaan when he looked like he wanted to protest, before he continued on. It was like he had stepped off a cliff and he couldn’t turn back; in that moment he didn’t care. “-And you want to tell me that’s not beautiful? That _you’re_ not beautiful? …Anybody who thinks you’re unattractive is out of their damned minds.”

La’gaan sighed. “Do you actually think you’ll convince me of this? You look a hell of a lot better than I do.” He internally cursed himself for saying that, he definitely shouldn’t have said that. Dammit he didn’t want Eddie to know anything about how he felt. He held a straight face, but barely. The firebender was attractive, but La’gaan didn’t want to admit that at all, and he almost just did. He might as well have voluntarily stepped in front of a firing squad.

Eddie frowned. He knew La’gaan was self-conscious about how he looked, but this... “La’gaan... I mean it. You are, bar none, one of the most attractive people I have ever met in my _entire life_. I wouldn’t lie to you about this.” For a moment he let his eyes drop to his own hands. True, when he’d gone through his drastic change he’d had to take some time to adjust, but he’d gotten used to it because he’d known there was no going back. Truth be told, he didn’t want to go back to how he had been. He might have missed some of the simplicity of the past, but he didn’t want to go back to the ashes that remained. When he looked back up to meet La’gaan’s eyes, he gave a muted wave with the fingers of one hand, deliberately drawing attention to the claws. “Besides, in some ways you and I aren’t all that different.”

La’gaan sighed. “Well maybe it’s just self-hate. Because I certainly don’t think you’re unattractive. The opposite actually.” _‘Did I just- Oh shit.’_ He looked up at Eddie wide-eyed. He did not mean to say that. La’gaan internally ran through several different means of explaining and came up with a blank. Dammit, acting natural was the dumbest idea he had ever had. He inhaled in a slight panic, not knowing how to react.

Eddie’s eyes briefly widened in surprise. He’d had butterflies before? Forget that— nothing less than full-on _Mothra_ was frantically flapping around in his gut. “O-oh,” he stammered. “You’re...” He nervously swallowed. His mouth suddenly felt dry. “That is... you...” Eddie took a deep breath and tried again, but when he spoke it came out in a rush. “You’reactuallyattractedtome?”

La’gaan stuttered in a panic. “Not necessarily. You’re just the opposite of unattractive,” he said with a straight face. He tried to sound smart, but he didn’t. Just illiterate. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, cringing at his own stupidity.

Fortunately Eddie was more than able to read between the lines. He tried to keep the overjoyed grin from creeping onto his face, but it was proving difficult. Scooting just a little closer to La’gaan, he said, “You know... I honestly don’t mind if you think I’m attractive. In fact... I’m happy about it.” The warmth radiating from him was at least at a pleasant level, but it was impossible to not notice at this point.

La’gaan closed his eyes and breathed out. It was officially time to abort the conversation. “It’s getting late and I’m tired,” he said, getting out of the pool. He grabbed his towel and walked towards his room to go to sleep. At this point it was much easier to run away from his feelings than actually process them. He sighed as he walked into his room. He always had to screw everything up. He knew running away wasn’t a good response, but neither was staying there and either getting angry or stammering aimlessly.

Eddie let him go. He wasn’t bothered by La’gaan’s need to escape, he just hoped that it wouldn’t result in La’gaan running from his interest permanently. But even so... The smile spread across Eddie’s face as he gave a pleased hum. Knowing that the feelings were mutual was more satisfying than he could have put into words. He let himself flop over so he could lazily sprawl out next to the pool, basking in how ridiculously happy he was. “Not bad,” he muttered, “Not bad at all.”

Over the next few days Eddie would give La’gaan some space. He knew that trying to push him to figure things out before he was ready would only result in disaster. No, far better to not actively seek him out, but not avoid him either until La’gaan felt like approaching him. Of course the others might notice (it was hard not to notice when the two of them had seemed almost inseparable for quite some time), but Eddie would deal with that if and when anyone brought it up to him. And whenever they started talking again, if La’gaan didn’t want to talk about it Eddie would let it be. For now, knowing was enough.


End file.
